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Director

Various

Release Date(s)

2015 (June 7, 2016)

Studio(s)

Williams Street/Cartoon Network/Adult Swim (Warner Home Video)

Film/Program Grade: A-

Video Grade: A-

Audio Grade: A-

Extras Grade: A-

Review

One of Adult Swim’s finest shows since The Venture Bros., Rick and Morty adopts the premise of Back to the Future and takes it to the next level. It follows the adventures of Rick Sanchez, an alcoholic, nihilistic mad scientist, his timid but optimistic grandson Morty, and the rest of the Smith family as they traipse their way to the farthest reaches of the universe and reality itself, making friends, enemies, and generally trying to survive Rick’s increasingly perilous escapades along the way. With three seasons in the can, a potential fourth season on the way, and ratings that continue to climb, Rick and Morty is more popular than ever with no signs of slowing down.

In all honesty, the reason you’re reading a review of one of this show’s earlier seasons is because I wasn’t all that keen on it initially. I’m always of the opinion that nearly everything is worth checking out at least twice, maybe even three times, before you can really get a sense of how you feel about it. Because of this, I’ve gone back and given books, movies, and TV shows that I originally disregarded or gave up on more opportunities to entertain me, which is what happened with Rick and Morty. I watched the premiere episode and it just didn’t click with me. I didn’t find it all that funny or appealing at first and, as a consequence, didn’t watch any further episodes. But after giving it some space (and being exposed to the infamous Pickle Rick episode from Season 3), I decided to give it another go. Thankfully, it proved to be a fruitful endeavor.

Looking at it from the outside in, Rick and Morty seems like a show that shouldn’t be as mega popular as it is. Let’s face it, we’ve seen shows of this sort before, mostly in live action form of course, but usually cancelled only after a season or two. With the merchandise it has spawned and its social media appeal, it continues to garner more fans. It’s both hilarious and clever, giving us a world of characters that get more and more amusing and interesting as the show goes on. For instance, Rick has the potential to be a completely disingenuous and unlikable character, and I’m sure for non-fans of the show, he is. He’s abrasive, rude, and completely horrible to the people around him. But somehow, he works, as does the show.

Season 2 of Rick and Morty comes to Blu-ray uncut and uncensored with an excellent A/V presentation. The show’s art style is well-represented in high definition with a beautiful array of colors and textures. Despite the modern nature of its animated renderings, nothing ever appears overly sharp but crisp enough for proper definition. Depth and detail are through the roof with vivid backgrounds, shading, and solid lines around characters and objects. Blacks are inky deep and both brightness and contrast levels are perfect. The only real issue, which isn’t really an issue at all, is some light haloing around the line art, which appears to be inherent in the source. If there are any other minor animation anomalies or encode issues, I didn’t spot any. For the audio, an English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD track is provided with optional subtitles in English SDH. It’s an excellent track with lots of surround activity and plenty of fidelity. Dialogue is always crisp and clear while sound effects and score feature excellent depth and occasional LFE. It’s also free of dropouts or other audio problems. So there are no real complains to be had about this well-produced presentation.

In the extras department, this release comes loaded for bear. There are audio commentaries on every single episode, some containing more than one. A Rickle in Time features Dan Harmon, Justin Roiland, Ryan Ridley, and Wes Archer; Mortynight Run features Harmon, Roiland, and Ridley; Mortynight Run also features another commentary with Erik Wolpaw, Jay Pinkerton, and Cabe Newell; Auto Erotic Assimilation and The Ricks Must Be Crazy features Harmon, Roiland, Ridley, and Dan Gutterman; The Ricks Must Be Crazy also features another commentary with Sal Governale and Richard Christy; Big Trouble in Little Sanchez features Harmon, Roiland, Ridley, and Bryan Newton; Total Rickall features Harmon, Roiland, Ridley, and Mike McMahan; Total Rickall also features another comment with WWE superstar Sheamus and Abed Cheith; Get Schwifty and The Wedding Squanchers feature Harmon, Roiland, Ridley, and Tom Kauffman; Interdimensional Cable 2: Tempting Fate features Harmon, Roiland, Ridley, and Juan Meza-León; and last but not least, Look Who’s Purging Now features Harmon, Roiland, Ridley, and Dominic Polcino. There’s also a set of deleted animatic sketches, a Rick and Morty Season 2 Premiere Party Featuring Chaos Chaos video, full animatics for every episode (2 for A Rickle in Time); and a paper insert containing a Digital HD code. Despite the amount of content here, the show’s trailers and TV spots would have been nice to have had as well.

Endlessly quotable and fun, the future looks bright for Rick and Morty. It’s a terrific show with an amazing voice cast, beautiful animation, and hilarious dialogue and situations. If you were like me and you initially tossed it aside, give it another chance. It’s definitely worth your time, and this Blu-ray presentation of the show’s second season is an excellent way to experience it. Highly recommended.

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